All posts tagged ‘universal studios’

It’s a busy weekend for Dakster Sullivan with a Jawa Christmas Party on Friday, then off to a much needed day of fun at Universal Studios with her family. She will also be playing the part of a holly jolly Christmas Elf this weekend, wrapping presents at her grandmothers house. Hopefully, she will have some time leftover to read the graphic novel, Batman: Noel that she checked out from the library.

Rachel Cericola is starting to freak out about how fast the holiday season is flying by. There’s so many gifts to buy, people to see, cards to write, and food items to prep. This weekend, she will finish compiling all of her necessary provisions to make cookies for her family, Santa, and pretty much everyone else within arm’s reach. She’s especially excited to try out the Neiman-Marcus cookie that GeekMom Patricia had recently posted.

Chaos Mandy will be spending the weekend relaxing. She has a long night on Thursday as she is going to the midnight showing of The Hobbit. She is planning on cosplaying as a hobbit and enjoying a movie she has waited years to see.

Kelly Knox has plenty of holiday fun lined up this week, including fawning over her daughter’s Christmas dance recital, going to a holiday party, and seeing Seattle’s renowned Nutcracker ballet for the first time. And she’s really looking forward to her local library’s release party for The Hobbit, even if she won’t be able to make it to the theater this weekend to see it.

Rebecca Angel is trying to NOT GET SICK. That is her primary focus this week since she has a show on Friday with her band at a local cafe. There have been a lot of performances lately, from her children’s choir to her band, and her kids with their own musical fun. ‘Tis the season to sing!

Brigid is having a blast with her brand new iMac with 21.5 and snazzy new graphics card. She is however dreading the massive migration task ahead of her. Thank god for Dropbox.

Natania went to New York City to do a media tour for the Geek Mom book, and walked somewhere between 8 and 10 miles, mastered the subway, and even made time to meet with friends she hadn’t seen in ages and those she’d never seen before! The media tour was fantastic, but she had a particularly lovely time meeting Geek Mom Andrea and walking around the Metropolitan Museum of Art and through Central Park.

Throughout July we visited six of the biggest theme parks in Orlando, Florida and considered the top ten geeky attractions in each. We then asked you to vote for the park you considered the geekiest. After a week of voting we can now announce that the winner is…

EPCOT

EPCOT took just over 50% of the total votes to win by a large margin with Universal’s Islands of Adventure coming in second. Interestingly, Disney’s Hollywood Studios only managed fourth place, despite being home to Star Wars, Indiana JonesandThe Muppets. The results give us a great idea of what you, our readers, really consider geeky and it would seem that the “hard” geek topics like space travel, technology, engineering and communications that are showcased in EPCOT win out over the brand-based geekdom found at Hollywood Studios and Islands of Adventure. It’s something we’ll be keeping in mind on the site, but if you find yourself with a free day in Orlando any time, it seems EPCOT is the place to go.

Throughout July we visited six of the biggest theme parks in Orlando, Florida and considered the top ten geeky attractions in each. Now it’s time to vote for the park you consider the geekiest of them all. Before you vote, here’s a recap of each of them:

1. Disney’s Animal KingdomHome to dinosaurs, the Yeti and a host of real life animals, with a ton of learning opportunities thrown in to boot. Animal Kingdom is a biology or palaeontology geek’s dream.

2. EPCOTEPCOT has possibly the geekiest creation story of all parks; but on top of that the whole park is an educational wonderland. Blast off to Mars, learn about energy and communications, and tour the globe at World Showcase.

3. Disney’s Hollywood StudiosJourney into the Twilight Zone, watch Indiana Jones performing stunt live on stage and fly around the galaxy far, far away. Younglings can even pick a fight with Darth Vader if they’re feeling brave.

4. Universal’s Islands of AdventureThere’s an entire Island devoted to Marvel comic characters, another where you can finally walk through the giant gates of Jurassic Park, and yet another that’s home to Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. Surely this park has to be in with a Phelpsian chance at winning the vote?

5. The Magic KingdomPirates, Buzz Lightyear, the chance to fly around space on a rocket roller coaster, and a genuine railroad? They may not be the biggest geek brands but these are the geeky activities we all grew up with.

6. Universal StudiosE.T, Men in Black and the Terminator. If you like your geek served with a side of retro, then maybe this is the park for you!

Once you’ve decided on your choice, cast your vote below. Voting will stay open until Friday August 10 with the result being posted the following week. May the geekiest park win!

10. Shrek 4D
There are a LOT of 3D movie attractions across Orlando, many with the additional in-room elements that add the 4th “D” in the title of this attraction, however Shrek outshines them all. Not only does the ride reunite the original cast for its voice acting, the plot, effects, and dialogue are all top quality and take you straight into Shrek’s world; there’s also a lot of gentle ribbing aimed at that other large park just a few miles away.

Universal Studio Orlando’s newest parade is the hit of the park. Focusing on some of the most popular animated characters today, Universal’s Superstar Parade was a welcome break from all the walking around we did that day. The downside to watching most parades is getting a good seat takes holding down a piece of pavement for an hour or more. The popularity of this parade makes this no exception to the rule.

We were fortunate enough to secure a spot at the first show stop of the parade. This gave us a perfect seat to watch Hop, the Minions and SpongeBob boogie down to the beat.

SpongeBob SquarePants / Image: Dakster Sullivan

After we had a chance to take it all in, I was given the chance to ask Lora Wallace, the show director for Universal Orlando Resort Entertainment, some questions about the parade and what it takes to put it all together. Lora has worked at Universal Orlando for sixteen years.

With various roles under her belt (talent manager, choreographer and assisting in theme concepting), she first started her work at the resort with a parade associated with Halloween Horror Nights, followed by a decade of involvement with Universal Orlando’s annual Mardi Gras parade and Macy’s Holiday Parade events. A few of her roles allowed her the opportunity to work on The Beetlejuice Graveyard Review, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure and How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

GeekMom: Why were the characters in the parade chosen to have a float or a part in the parade? Lora Wallace: All the characters in the Universal Superstar Parade are loved by so many people and are all fun for the entire family, so we felt they were the best fit for our new parade.

GM: How many people did it take from idea to first show to make this happen? LW: It took a small group of people to start then as the concepts and production grew we grew into hundreds of talented people.

GM: What float was the most fun to work on? LW: All of the floats have something different and special – The Dora and Diego float features swinging, tumbling monkeys on vines; the SpongeBob SquarePants float features colorful fish on roller skates; The HOP float comes equipped with a slide and marching band style drummers; and the Despicable Me float incorporates the best elements from the film, as well as our favorite characters, Gru, Edith, Agnes, Margo and the minions. They really are all special in their own way and I’ve enjoyed working on bringing all of them to life.

E.B Bunny / Image: Dakster Sullivan

GM: What kinds of things do you take into consideration when planning out the show stops and parade path? LW: We looked at the best part of the park with the most viewing area for parade and show stops. We wanted to ensure that all our guests got a great view and were able to see all their favorite characters.

GM: The costumes were amazing! My favorite outfit was the one worn by the minion dancers. When planning out the attire for the performers, did you get input from any of the cast or crew that would be wearing them? LW: As I was a dancer, I was able to get into the costumes and make sure that the choreographed movement was able to be performed while also ensuring the costumes stayed true to the fun-loving nature of these characters.

GM: What is the typical timeline for a project like this to go from idea to first show? LW: The timeline for each of our productions varies on the show. This particular parade was a few years in the works from the first concept to the final product.

GM: Tell me a little bit about the technology that is incorporated into the floats that is special or different from other parade floats. LW: The Universal Superstar Parade floats have hundreds of speakers on them, lots of animatronics and moving parts and tons of LED lights. The Despicable Me float also features two huge hi-definition LED video screens featuring a Minion music video for all to enjoy. Each of these floats is also equipped with GPS so that each movement of the floats is choreographed and the floats end up in exactly the right place during the show stops for every parade.

I was given park tickets to check out Universal Orlando’s Superstar Parade. Though I received this benefit, I have given a review that is completely my own.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to check out Universal Orlando’s latest nighttime show. I’ve never seen an evening show at the park before, so I was looking forward to the experience. My past experience with nighttime shows at Disney, however, had me anticipating a crowd and long wait for a good seat. To my surprise, that wasn’t the case at all. Unlike the shows at other Orlando theme parks, there are multiple locations along the water front that you can view the show and still have a front row experience.

As Mother Nature’s lights started to dim, the water screen started to come alive. Lights… Camera… Action! The show began.

The first thing I couldn’t help but notice was the narration given by Academy Award winning actor, Morgan Freeman. I don’t think they could have made a better choice. As soon as it started, my son couldn’t take his eyes off the water screen. We were all taken back by the pyrotechnics that shot off not only from the lagoon, but also all around us from various locations in the park.

In addition to viewing the show, I was given the opportunity to interview one of the individuals behind the show’s creation, Micheal Aiello. Since 2003, Mr. Aiello has had a major role in the Universal Orlando Halloween Horror Night event. He’s been responsible for writing and directing the extremely popular “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure” as well as working with New Line Cinema to co-create content based on A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well as Universal Pictures’ The Thing. He is also responsible for overseeing the concept and development for the entertainment elements within The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort. Photo courtesy of Universal Orlando.

The streets of Hogsmeade and the hallowed halls of Hogwarts are coming to California.

Bolstered by the magical success of the Harry Potter-themed attraction at Universal Orlando, Warner Bros. and Universal Parks and Resorts announced that a similar attraction will open at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Universal also unveiled plans to expand The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort. Check out the LA Times’ coverage for more details and some hints at what the attraction might include.

Universal Studios’ new park in Singapore offers some familiar favorites in its 24 attractions, from Jurassic Park to Shrek to the critters of Madagascar, and a marine life park and maritime museum are coming soon. But what I’m drooling over is the Sci-Fi City, which includes a Battlestar Galactica ride. The BSG ride pits a seated ‘human’ coaster against a suspended ‘Cylon’ coaster on two different tracks, which loop, corkscrew and roll around each other on a kilometer-long track. Here’s a look:

(Why does the video refer to “Reopening?” The park opened to guests last year, but didn’t have its official grand opening until last week. The BSG ride, which was closed for repairs in March of last year, reopened in February.)

The park also has a Galactica PX souvenir shop, where, I hope, all of the corners of the merchandise are cut off.